Matthew 5: 39-41
39 But I say to you: do not resist the evil one; Before, to anyone who hurts you on the right cheek, turn the other too;
40 and whoever wants to sue you and take off your tunic, also leave the cape;
41 and whoever forces you to carry a load for a mile, go with him two..
Jesus advised the Jews to have the humility to surpass the Roman order and to carry one more mile the load that was sent to them.
How complicated this advice was for a people who wanted to be free!
But he did it because he intended to help us heal our hearts and build our lives. If you are forced to travel a mile with someone else's load, your aching heart will want to drop the load when completing that mile, but those who learn the Lord's work code, as they advance in walking the second mile reflect on humility, patience and the good attitude, then perhaps they no longer see with such anger who imposed the burden on them, and even, in the end they could say:
God bless who has challenged me to strive!
If you want Jesus to be your teacher, if you want him to support your life with ideas and authority, you must learn to act according to his rules and let him heal your wounds.
We need to be people with a healthy heart and without bitterness. The Jews were resentful as slaves, but Jesus came to free them from rancor.
His doctrine of peace frees us because it teaches us that we heal when we give more than what we have been asked to do.
We all want a life of abundance, but the first thing we should look for is a willing heart to give a humble attitude to be edified.
The Roman emperor forced the Jews to walk a mile with the load, yet Jesus told him it must be two miles.
If we want to be productive, we must be one of those who tries harder than the world asks.
